Podertainment Magazine Issue 22 Now Available

Podertainment LogoPodertainment Magazine, the “Podcasting Magazine” has released its December 2015 issue. It is filled with articles and videos for anyone who is thinking about starting a podcast. This issue is also a great resource for podcasters who want to improve their skills, equipment, and audience.

The December issue of the Podertainment Podcast Magazine features two videos that were filmed and released from the very first Podcast Movement Conference (which was held in Dallas, Texas, in 2014). The first video is with Erik K Johnson. His session was called “Transforming Your Content Through Story Telling”. The second video is with Steve P Young. His session was called “Podcasting With Your Mobile Device”.

Here’s a quick look at what else the December issue of Podertainment has:
* Steve Stewart wrote a letter from the editor called “Why Not Music Podcasts?”

* Jessica Kupferman wrote “What You Need To Know Before Your First Sponsor, Part 2” in her Tune In and Turn it Up column.

* Kien Tran wrote a product review titled “Blue Lola Headphones Bring Unparalleled Quality”

* Hani Mourra wrote “Free Tools To Improve Your Podcast”.

* Brian Ibbott of Coverville wrote “Developing Podcasting Habits, Not Goals”.

* Jeffrey Powers wrote “Compacting Your Podcast: 30 minutes to 3”.

* Dave Jackson wrote “Television for Podcasters”.

Podertainment is available for subscription through the iTunes Store for $12.99 a year. Back issues are available for $2.99 each.

Podcast Movement 2016 Announces More Speakers

Podcast Movement 2016 logoPodcast Movement 2016 is the third annual Podcast Movement event. It is for anyone who is interested in or involved with podcasting. Selected keynote speakers will take center stage to kick off and close out the event each day. Podcast Movement 2016 recently announced two more speakers.

The two newest additions to the Podcast Movement 2016 list of speakers are Heben Nigatu and Tracy Clayton. They are the hosts of the Another Round podcast. Their show covers everything from race, gender, pop culture, and more. You might recall the episode they did in 2015 where they interviewed Hillary Clinton.

You might also recognize Heben Nigatu and Tracy Clayton from the Podcast Movement 2015 Session that they led. It was featured on the Podcast Movement: Sessions podcast. The title of their session was “How to Diversify”.

Previously, Anna Sale was announced as the first Podcast Movement 2016 speaker. She is the host and managing editor of Death, Sex & Money, WYNC’s interview show about the big questions and hard choices that are often left out of polite conversation. Podcast Movement 2016 will be announcing more featured speakers as we get closer to July 6-8, 2016, when the event will take place.

End of the Year Podcasting Wrap Up – PCN Show 025

PCN iTunes artworkShawn and Jen are back and bringing you an end of the year wrap up for podcasting.

We highlight “Best Of” lists, take a look at how podcasting has changed, and consider what is coming for podcasting in 2016.

Links mentioned in this episode:

* The Ten Most Popular Podcasts of 2015
By Lisa Eadicicco at TIME

* The Best Podcast Episodes of 2015
By Laura Jane Standley, Devon Taylor and Eric MacQuade at The Atlantic

* The 10 best new podcasts of 2015 (that aren’t Serial!)
By Melissa Locker at The Guardian

* How Podcasts Have Changed in Ten Years: By the Numbers
By Josh Morgan at Medium

* Could Facebook be the next big platform for podcasts?
By Laura Hazard Owen at Current

Patreon Makes a Change for Better Transparency

Patreon LogoPatreon has made a change that clarifies how much creators are actually receiving. Those of you have a Patreon for your podcast may already be aware that the amount it showed you were getting per month wasn’t actually accurate. This may have led to some unnecessary confusion.

Previously, patrons would see the number Pateron said your podcast was making per month. It may have appeared that you had earned enough to have hit a milestone goal – when in reality, that simply wasn’t factual. The problem was that that Patreon was showing the amount of money your podcast earned per month – without taking into account fees and declined pledges.

As such, the situation could have placed some podcasters into the uncomfortable position of having their patrons expecting to receive whatever was offered for a milestone goal – before the podcaster had actually earned the money. It is easy to see why this was a problem.

new Patreon

Go have a look at Patreon, and you will see a change. There is now a little question mark that has appeared next to the phrase “per month”. Patrons can hover over the question mark to get more information. A small pop-up window says: “Estimated income per month, after removing fees and declined pledges. Click for more details”.

A slightly different pop-up is shown to the creator. “Don’t worry! This is your estimated income for this month, after removing fees and declined pledges. Actual pledge total available in your patreon manager. Click for more details.

That “click” will direct patrons to the Patreon Help Center and a post that is titled: “Why Is My Public Facing Dollar Amount Less Than The Amount That Is Pledged To Me?” This post explains the new change to creators and to patrons.

Overall, this change was made for better transparency. Every creator, every patron, every visitor to your Patreon page will see the adjusted dollar figure.

Fan Appreciation Day Connects Podcasters and Fans

Fan Appreciation DayWant to do something special for the fans of your podcast? Get involved with Fan Appreciation Day! The very first Fan Appreciation Day will take place on January 3, 2016. It will begin at 10:30 in the morning.

Fan Appreciation Day is an unofficial day for podcasters to let their fans know they appreciate them in a casual meet-n-greet setting online. It is similar to what would happen at a podcast conference, where fans and podcasters can meet, mingle, and get to know each other a little bit better. But, instead of happening in a physical location, the whole thing will take place via Blab.

It doesn’t cost anything for podcasters to participate in Fan Appreciation Day. Just go to the website and fill in a short form. It requires your name, email address, and a link to your podcast website. Pick a time from a dropdown box that you will be available on Blab for a meet-n-greet.

Make sure to let your fans know about Fan Appreciation Day, and what time you will be on Blab. This could be a really fun opportunity to connect with fans who live far away from you – without requiring anyone to travel or pay to attend a conference or event.

Podfest 2016 Will Take Place in February

Podcast 2016 logoPodfest 2016 will take place on February 25, 26, and 27. This will be Podfest’s second year in a row. Podfest is the gathering place for long time podcasters, new podcasters, and those who are thinking about starting podcasts. It is a special forum that offers actionable and strategic education, unique opportunities to connect and collaborate with fellow podcasters and speakers, and access to the best podcasting resources.

The speakers for Podfest 2016 are:
* Dave Jackson – School of Podcasting
* Kate Erickson (via Skype) – Entrepreneur on Fire and Kate’s Take
* Glenn The Geek – Horse Radio Network
* Justin Crossley – The Brewing Network
* Natalie Eckdahl – Biz Chix Podcasters
* Liz Covart – Ben Franklin’s World
* Katie Krimitsos – Biz Women Rock
* Niel Guilarte – All Things Post
* Steve Cherubino – The Producer Podcast
* Danny Pena – Gamer Tag Radio
* Omar Zenhom (via Skype) – The $100 MBA
* Jeff Brown – Read to Lead

The venue for Podfest 2016 will be the Ramada Westshore Hotel in Tampa, Florida. It is suggested that you mention that you are with PODFEST when you book a room so that you can receive their special group room rate. There are different prices depending on if you want to attend one day, two days, or all three days.

The first day of Podfest 2016 is actually an additional day. It is for people who are looking to start a podcast or who have started shows within the past year. The purpose is to answer all your how-to questions. The following two days of Podfest 2016 includes speakers, lunch, and an after party.

Mixcloud Lets You Stream Your Podcasts

Mixcloud logoMixcloud is a streaming audio platform that focuses on DJ mixes, radio shows, and podcasts. Last month, Mixcloud gave users the ability to cast their track to Apple TV. Now, Mixcloud is rolling out support for Chromecast and Sonos devices. This will enable podcasters to stream their shows via Chromecast and Sonos.

The purpose of adding support for Chromecast and Sonos seems to be in the hopes that it will prevent users from defecting to other services that already support the devices. It is also to make Mixcloud seem more attractive to prospective users so people will choose Mixcloud over its competitors.

On the Mixcloud website, it states that users get unlimited uploads. They are free to upload as much content as they would like to. They can also listen to as much content as they would like.

Doing so is encouraged. Their Terms of Service state that users need to log in and listen to or upload a piece of audio content at least every six months. Those that fail to do so may have their account permanently disabled due to prolonged inactivity.

Podcasters that are using music, or other audio, that they did not create themselves should be aware that Mixcloud respects the intellectual property rights of others. You are allowed to upload “a collection of sound recordings that have been released to the public under the authority of the copyright owners of the sound recordings.”

Libsyn has a New Player

Libsyn logoLibsyn has released their new player. It has some new features that are different from the previous player. Libsyn has put together a main support article for those who have questions about the new player (or want to know more about it).

The main new updates are:

* The player is customizable. You can change the colors to match your podcast.

* You can now copy the embed code. Your listeners can copy it, too. This allows people to post that link on their site.

* It comes with a Player Playlist. This helps your listeners who like to binge listen to podcasts. The new player has all your episodes, one after the other.

* You can share the new player to Google + , Twitter, Facebook, Clammer, Pinterest and iTunes, Stitcher and Tunein plus your RSS.

* The new player has a download option. Listeners can now one-click download the media file.

What if you prefer the old player? That’s ok. Libsyn says you don’t have to update your player if you do not want to. You still have a choice of four types of players: Legacy, Standard, Standard Mini, and Custom.

Fairy Tales, Muggles, and Shatner – PCN Show 024

PCN iTunes artworkShawn and Jen have returned to bring you a round up of interesting podcast related news that didn’t get written up on the Podcaster News blog.

This week, they discuss misinformation about podcasting history, podcasting tips (which may or may not be useful), podcasts for book lovers, and more.

Links mentioned in this episode:

* 25 Outstanding Podcasts for Readers
By Kate Scott on BookRiot

* To Tow Center re podcasting
By Dave Winer on Scripting News

* Guide to Podcasting
By Vanessa Quirk on Tow Center for Digital Journalism

* 11 Crucial Tooks to Grow Your Podcast (Or Blog) With Twitter
By Meron Bareket on Social Quaint

* Podcasting is getting huge. Here’s why.
By Ariel Stulberg on Vox

* 8 Important Speaking and Voice Tips For Podcasters
By Salvador Briggman on Podcasting Hacks

Periscope is 2015 App of the Year

Periscope best of 2015Periscope has been named the App store Best of 2015 by Apple. The Best of 2015 list created by Apple was split into two categories. One was “Apps” and the other was “Games”. Periscope is at the top of the “Apps” list.

There doesn’t seem to be much information about exactly how Apple determined what should be on the list. If you view the list on iTunes, it says: “We debated. We argued. Everyone had favorites, but to make this list of 2015’s finest, there could be no doubts. What you see here made the cut – they’re the most visionary, inventive, and irresistible apps and games of the year.”

iTunes best of 2015

Periscope is definitely an app that caught the attention of Podcasters in 2015. Re/Code reported in April that CEO of Periscope, Dick Costolo, said at an earnings call that Periscope had added a million new users in the app’s first ten days on the market.

Twitter acquired Periscope in 2015, and gave it plenty of support. At around the same time, Twitter pushed Meerkat away by refusing to allow it to continue to access Twitter’s social graph.

By doing so, it prevented the Meerkat app from having the ability to automatically notify users when their friends were streaming. That made it harder for Periscope’s competition to gain a foothold on Twitter.

To me (and probably many other podcasters) the greatest thing about Periscope was their responsiveness to users. When it started, the only available option was to broadcast in portrait. Shawn and I made a couple of attempts to use Periscope to live broadcast our podcast, and found it impossible to fit us both on the screen. Later, after many had requested a landscape mode, Periscope introduced landscape to the app.